1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the gellation or solidification of non-polar organic liquids, and to products obtained therefrom.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Non-polar organic liquids are used for various purposes in fuels, motor oils, paints, cosmetics, edible oils and the like.
In the practical use of non-polar organic liquids, it is often desirable to render them solid. If a container is damaged or broken open, the organic liquids stored therein flow out and spread over a wide area, and recovery of the spilled liquid is difficult. If the spilled organic liquids are inflammable, they burn once ignited. For example, fire and smoke inhalation cause many deaths in otherwise survivable aircraft accidents. The fires usually are caused when the highly volatile fuel spills from damaged tanks and splatters over a wide area. Fuel vaporizes and is easily ignited by hot engine parts or sparks from metal impact. On the contrary, when fuels are gelled, the degree of vaporization and the extent to which the fuel is scattered upon impact are decreased, and so the danger of rapidly spreading fire or explosion is substantially reduced. Thus, gelled fuels are a significant safety factor in jet aircraft. Also, gelled fuels may be handled like fluid liquids under certain stress. Moreover, gelling agents for organic liquids are useful for facilitating the removal or recovery of spilled non-polar organic liquids or other aggregates of non-polar organic liquids, and for preventing the leakage or spillage of such non-polar organic liquids from leaking tanks or holes.
A need continues to exist for methods of gelling non-polar organic liquids to avoid the many problems when such liquids are spilled.